mono blue fish needs some help

[thebigkirbousky]

10 islands
4 mishras factory
4 faerie conclave

4 flying men
4 ninja
4 waterfront bouncer
4 spiketail hatchling

4 brainstorm
4 daze
2 echoing truth
4 curiousity
3 standstill
1 back to basics
1 gush
2 rushing river

I know this needs some work, right now I just play it against friends but hope to get it competitive. i actualy have 4 thalakos seer in it right now instead of the last 4 cards listed, but just because i never get to use them. any suggestions would be appreiciated, but I really dont want to spend large sums of money, at least not right now. thanx guys

[hazard]

This doesn't look much like a Vintage build...I will assume your friends do not use proxies/power since you have none listed.  I'm not sure, but your list may be Legacy legal.

Here is a classic Mono-U Vintage build (and article) for reference:

http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/8027.html

And a newer deck:

http://sales.starcitygames.com/deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=16521

Neither of these builds have as many critters as yours and you would have a difficult time finding an exclusively blue fish list that has seen any play/success recently.  Most fishy decks with blue these days have at least one other color.

At any rate, with 8 non-basic lands, you can drop the singleton Back to Basics.  Fetchlands (Polluted Delta, Flooded Strand) always make your deck happier.

With your Echoing Truths, Rushing Rivers, and Waterfront Bouncers you've got 8 pieces of bounce.  That might be a few too many for the format.

You have four Daze and four Spiketail Hatchlings which brings a sum of zero hard counters.  Four Force of Will and/or four Mana Leak (still not hard) is a good start (assuming Mana Drains are not in the budget).

You have nothing to slow down your opponent's mana-base such as Wasteland, Strip Mine, Chalice of the Void, Null Rod (very good especially if you are not running artifact mana), Powder Keg, Engineered Explosives, etc.

I count 55 cards listed, but my math is horrible...

Running Standstill in Mono-U is interesting.

Best of luck and welcome -

[Guli]

Dude he didnt say MBC he said Mono blue fish

I have all respect for all kind of fish decks

I would first think about what your gameplan will be. After that you pick your critters according to your game strategy.


You will have a good draw engine with blue and a strong mana base
You can go with mana denial yourself
The problem will be removal, but you have bounce i guess.

You won't be able to use meddling mage, this is bad cause he is one of the best blue/white critters available for fish

back to basic/stiffle/strip mine/trickbind should give you some mana denial

brainstorm/a recall/ninja/remand

flying men is good to get the ninja up but i think you might need another 1 drop, how about Sage of Epityr?

im not gonna talk any further but here is a list i would work on



// Lands
    3  Flooded Strand
    3  Polluted Delta
    9  Island
    1  Strip Mine
    1 Black lotus
    1 mox sapphire
// Creatures
    4  Sage of Epityr
    4  Flying Men
    4  Ninja of the Deep Hours
    3  Waterfront Bouncer

// Spells
    3  Echoing Truth
    4  Stifle
    3  Trickbind
    4  Remand
    4  Force of Will
    1  Time Walk
    1  Ancestral Recall
    4  Brainstorm
    3  Back to Basics

[thebigkirbousky]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I think that I am going to play this as a legacy deck, seeing as I don't have the cash for some of the vintage cards at the moment. I have been playing for about 6 yrs off and on but there isnt a good place to play around, so it has been mostly against friends. Now that I want to play some tourneys I think legacy is the way to go for now. Thanks again guys.

[Implacable]

Well, I understand that you would like to make this into a Legacy deck, and that is fine.  However, as an aside, I would point out that moderately expensive cards like Force, Delta, and Strand are just as much of a requirement in Legacy as they are in Vintage. 

I am intrigued, regardless of the orginal poster's desire to continue this thread, with the concept presented in this post.  In particular, I look to the example of Faerie Stompy in Legacy as a place from which to begin the building of such a deck.  Some of the elements in Faery Stompy, like early and multiple Chalices, are strong in Vintage; some, like equipment, are not.  In order to optimize such a deck, a viable creature base must first be established. 

What are the requirements for a creature in Type 1?  It must either be blazingly fast and efficient, or it must have some sort of disruptive quality; if it has both, like Jotun Grunt, it is highly played.  Here, perhaps, is a creature based suited to 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Blue Blue Blue Fish:

4 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
4 Sea Drake
4 Trinket Mage
2 Serendib Efreet

This base provides the needed mix of disruption vs. speed, and it also is generous enough to avoid Chalice at 1, which will likely be one of this decks most common plays.

Next, a disruption base is necessary.  Counterspells are an obvious inclusion; mana disruption is another obvious component of the deck.  Draw spells will facilitate the decks rapid play of creatures.  A spell base for 1F2FBBBF would look like this:

4 Brainstorm
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection
2 Remand
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Bonesplitter
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
1 Time Walk
1 Tormod's Crypt

Finally, a manabase utilising Power, the full compliment of Wastes, and Factories to provide an additional clock completes the following list:

4 Erayo, Soratami Ascendant
4 Sea Drake
4 Trinket Mage
2 Serendib Efreet

4 Brainstorm
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Force of Will
2 Misdirection
2 Remand
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Bonesplitter
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
1 Time Walk
1 Tormod's Crypt

6 Island
4 Wasteland
3 Mishra's Factory
3 Polluted Delta
2 Bazaar of Baghdad
2 Flooded Strand
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Strip Mine

Color your sideboard to taste!

There are advantages to playing this deck; namely, your deck is not susceptable to Wasteland.  1F2FBBBF crushes Fish with its fast creatures and tempo Counterspells; it beats Stax with its Trinket Mage engine (Needling Welder is essential) and with its Erayos; it beats Gifts in the same way, although Trinket Mage now finds Explosives or Crypt; and it beats Oath by tucking its head beneath its legs and praying that the other guy mulligans to 0.

Note: Bazaar of Baghdad is perhaps a questionable card in a deck that does not abuse it.  In this list, Bazaar serves to filter out the cards locked out by your own Chalices.  In fact, the problem of Chalice locking out Artifact mana causes this 1F2FBBBF list to only run on-color permanent Artifact mana and Mana Crypt (which is obviously very good in this deck).

[wethepeople]

desolutionist recently posted a very intriguing Mono Fish build utilizing Trinket Mage, along with an optimal toolbelt that offered a wide-range of answers. When playing Budget, you generally want to compete with the top tiers by running cards that threaten those archetypes. Trinket Mage makes these cards accessable.


This was the thread that he posted it in, and here is the list if you are interested:

I made this for a friend:

4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
1 Tolarian Academy
9 Island
1 Academy Ruins

1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Aether Spellbomb

1 Sundering Titan
4 Trinket Mage
2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

4 Merchant Scroll
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell
2 Shadow of Doubt
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Tinker
1 Rebuild
1 Echoing Truth

----------------------
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Rebuild
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
4 Extract
4 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Trickbind

[zeus-online]

...Thats Mono blue control, not fish...But it's still interesting

/Zeus

[wethepeople]

...Thats Mono blue control, not fish...But it's still interesting

/Zeus

Well yeah, but I was trying to provide additional options that he can take with the deck, primarily Trinket Mage+ toolbelt. A list like that wouldn't be too difficult to transition to a more aggro build. Just cut Drains, excess Counterspells, et cetera for a larger creature base, and you have Mono Fish. 

[EKM_Ichorid]

desolutionist recently posted a very intriguing Mono Fish build utilizing Trinket Mage, along with an optimal toolbelt that offered a wide-range of answers. When playing Budget, you generally want to compete with the top tiers by running cards that threaten those archetypes. Trinket Mage makes these cards accessable.


This was the thread that he posted it in, and here is the list if you are interested:

I made this for a friend:

4 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
1 Tolarian Academy
9 Island
1 Academy Ruins

1 Black Lotus
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Aether Spellbomb

1 Sundering Titan
4 Trinket Mage
2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

4 Merchant Scroll
4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell
2 Shadow of Doubt
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Time Walk
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Tinker
1 Rebuild
1 Echoing Truth

----------------------
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Rebuild
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
4 Extract
4 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Trickbind

I've been playing with a similar list...but its mono-blue and uses a counterbalance/sensei lock. I also use DSC, not Titan...plus I'm playing with 2x Bribery. It's a bomb in the format against Stax/Dragon/Combo with DSC/Slaver. Plus against Fish it can grab Grunt or a Bob against SS.

[silvernail]

if I were to run fish on a budget Id try something like this

// Deck file for Magic Workstation

// Lands
    4 Mishra's Factory
    4 Wasteland
    1 Strip Mine
    10 Island
    2 Faerie Conclave

// Creatures
    4 Flying Men
    3 Dandan
    4 Cloud of Faeries
    3 Ninja of the Deep Hours
    4 Serendib Efreet

// Spells
    3 Daze
    4 Stifle
    4 Force of Will
    1 Gush
    1 Lotus Petal
    4 Null Rod
    2 Curiosity
    2 Standstill

This version has Dandan and Serendib Efreet for added damage, as well as Wastelands, Strip Mine, Stifles and Null Rods for mana denial.

The whole reason fish decks work is because they limit the opponent's mana, and in Vintage you'll need every advantage you can muster.

[Jank Golem]

If you are looking to play Mono Blue Fish and not Mono Blue Control here is a list I placed 3rd with at Myriad in November 2006,

1x  Strip Mine
4x  Wasteland
4x  Mishra's Factory
12x  Island
1x  Mox Sapphire
1x  Black Lotus

4x  Ninja of the Deep Hours
2x  Waterfront Bouncer
1x  Cloud Ninjas
4x  Spiketail Hatchling
2x  Flying Men
2x  Rootwater Thief
2x  Trickster Mage
3x  Daze
4x  Force of Will
4x  Null Rod
4x  Standstill
3x  Stifle
1x  Ancestral Recall
1x  Time Walk


That list is a little outdated but the major change sense that point has been cutting Spiketail Hatchlings and bumping some of the 2 and 3 ofs to 4 ofs. Power can be cut pretty easily and the deck should still perform well without power.

[Pure Scrubbery]

As somebody who has helped test mono-u fish with jank golem I will say a few things. First of all, spiketail really seemed to be the most subpar card in the deck, and we went through intense periods of hating it. While he does not run brainstorm, I think you could tailor a build like his with it. Trickster mage is a slightly dated card (due to the tinker plan being used much more infrequently) and I would recommend martyr of frost.